Yesterday, in a surprising turn of events, the Jazz traded Donovan Mitchell to the Cavaliers in exchange for Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, Collin Sexton, three unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027 and 2029) and two pick swaps (2026 and 2028).
It was widely expected that the 25-year-old shooting guard will be dealt to the Knicks. However, after New York signed a contract extension with RJ Barrett, whom Utah wanted, the chances of such trade happening were reduced.
Still, it was the Knicks that were viewed as the favorites to land Mitchell. According to NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, when the Jazz received Cleveland’s offer, they didn’t circle back to New York. The Knicks found out about the trade through media.
Via Doric Sam of Bleacher Report:
“I do think New York expected they would circle back, and they never got another chance with Utah,” Woj said. “Utah did not go back to them on Thursday and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got this offer from Cleveland. Do you want to top it?’ In their mind, when New York walked on Monday, that was it. They had a deal with Cleveland that they just did, agreed to it. And New York found out after that Mitchell deal was already agreed to, that he was on his way to Cleveland, and Utah was not circling back with New York to give them a chance to top the deal.”
